Performance of fluorescence polarisation immunoassay reagents for carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbitone, primidone, and valproic acid on a Cobas Fara II analyser.

Reagents are now available for the measurement of a range of antiepileptic drugs by fluorescence polarisation immunoassay using the Roche Cobas Fara II analyser. Evaluation data are presented that demonstrate that these assays represent a convenient, cost-effective, and analytically reliable alternative to other commercially available systems for the measurement of drugs during therapeutic drug monitoring. The use of a general-purpose analyser, the opportunity to perform different drug assays simultaneously, and long calibration stability confer significant benefits on these methods. These are especially applicable for the laboratory that undertakes only small or moderate numbers of such investigations during therapeutic drug monitoring.